There is no doubt that e-cigarettes have changed the way nicotine is used all around the world. They offer people a new, safer way of consuming nicotine that doesn’t involve the foul smell and bad tasting traditional cigarettes. However, as with any new popular product, people want to know the full story, and the questions on many people’s lips is how will e-cigarettes affect the body? And are they a health threat to the youth of today?

Well for starters, you can adjust the amount of nicotine you inhale with e-cigarettes because there are various concentration levels of e-liquids which you can select according to your personal preference. Some e-liquids contain zero nicotine which offers a risk-free alternative to smoking. Another reason people chose e-cigarettes is the absence of thousands of dangerous chemicals which are the primary cause of disease and death from smoking traditional cigarettes. This means that e-cigarettes are certainly a much safer way to take in nicotine.

When it comes to advertising, some concerns have been raised about the promotion of e-cigarettes and some of the branding that has been placed on products. However, these concerns have largely been addressed with new laws which determine where e-cigarettes can be marketed to ensure children are not encouraged to try them underage. An amount of personal concern also needs to be used by parents who use e-cigarettes to ensure that e-liquids are kept out of sight and out of reach of children.

Research from the ecig review site found that 65% of people worry that the nature of e-cigarettes mean that children are more likely to pick up the habit. It seems to be the case that e-cigarettes have been the victim of medias articles that are based upon misinterpreted research findings. The reports that suggest e-cigarettes are a ‘gateway’ to traditional cigarette smoking among young people are also based upon incorrect research claims. In fact, research in the UK has found that only 10% of 11-18 year olds have tried an e-cigarette and regular users are current smokers of traditional cigarettes anyway. In addition to this, research conducted in Wales concluded that “e-cigarettes are unlikely to be making a significant contribution directly to adolescent nicotine addiction”.

Research from Public Health England states that using an e-cigarette is 95% safer than smoking traditional cigarettes, with the other 5% only remaining due to the difficulty of testing long term effects of such a new product. Dr Farsalinos is one of the leading e-cigarette scientists in Europe and his research recently showed that 6.1 million Europeans have quit smoking due to using an e-cigarette instead. More research showing the benefits of e-cigarettes has come from the University College in London. The results of this research stated that for every million smokers who swap from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes, there are 6,000 less premature deaths each year in the UK alone.

Nobody wants people to be addicted to any kind of drug, and education should now be in place for young people regarding the use of e-cigarettes within school and colleges. They should be taught the correct and proper use of this new phenomenon if they are to benefit from the use of chemical free e-cigarettes instead of harmful traditional cigarettes.